Lakes Entrance Coastguard is moving towards self sufficient energy with the grant and installment of solar panels and battery thanks to Ausnet.
Coastguard member Gary Hayes successfully applied for a $28,000 Energy Resilience grant from Ausnet.
“The East Gippsland Shire helped me access their Grant Guru portal which gives access to grants available,” Gary said.
“We did not have to co-fund this grant and with the funds we are heading to being off grid independent. We now have an eight kilowatt converter, 16 kw battery and 10kw brand new solar panels on the roof.
Gary explained that before these installations if there was a power outage for an extended period, they would lose the marine radio network. Now they are self sufficient on a daily basis it gives them the ability to provide for the community.
“We can now be a community hub in times of emergency. We have solar hot water with instantaneous gas hot water as a back up and are about to install an induction cook top. We are proud of how it is all coming together,” he said.
Energy Resilience Grants Manager for Ausnet Kim Sullivan recently visited the complex and witnessed how their grant was being used.
